No wonder Shen Qingjun had always sensed something odd in Bai Yue’s attitude toward the original owner.
It turned out that the small wooden box contained all the inheritance left by her grandmother to the original owner: property deeds, asset documents, files for a safe deposit box at a Hongcheng bank, passbooks, and so on. These were far more valuable than the box of little goldfish.
The instructions stated that the original owner could inherit once she turned twenty, and most of her grandmother’s inheritance had to be claimed in Hongcheng.
Judging by Bai Yue’s resentful tone, it seemed her grandmother hadn’t left her anything at all.
Shen Qingjun carefully stored everything in her space, not rushing to claim it—after all, there would be plenty of opportunities to go to Hongcheng in the coming decades.
As for the box of little goldfish, her pitifully small space couldn’t hold it. Leaving it there would make her unhappy, and who knew if Shen Hanyang and Bai Yue would change their minds and take it all away?
Moving it elsewhere temporarily wasn’t an option—the box was too large to fit in her space, and she didn’t have the strength to drag it.
There was no choice. Shen Qingjun began forcefully packing the box into her space, filling every nook and cranny. Suddenly, she noticed one corner that remained unfilled no matter what she did. Her gaze shifted—and somehow the gold bars had slipped into the gray mist of another space.
So her space was like a gold-eating beast: it wouldn’t swallow anything else, only valuables.
Since she didn’t need it right now, Shen Qingjun tossed the wooden box into the gray mist, and in the next moment, it appeared in another part of her space.
Sigh. Until she figured out how to restore her space, she could only be a rich woman in name—wealth she could see but not touch.
Having dealt with the wooden box, Shen Qingjun quickly restored the floor, checked everything carefully, and left.
Meanwhile, Shen Hanyang and Bai Yue came down from the hill and vaguely saw a figure crouched outside their door. Their faces darkened slightly as they whispered, “Who’s there?”
Sun Lanzhi jumped in fright and ran off without looking back.
“Looks like Sun Lanzhi?” Bai Yue said, uncertain but recognizing her.
Shen Hanyang frowned. “What is she doing at our house so late?” Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, and his expression darkened.
Bai Yue asked, “Is Qingjun home? Why not ask her?”
Shen Hanyang shook his head. “She’s so stubborn. If she asks what we were doing out late, how would we answer?”
They exchanged a glance and silently agreed to ignore it. After all, Shen Xinwei was Sun Lanzhi’s biological daughter—they didn’t think Sun Lanzhi would bring trouble upon herself.
After entering the house, Shen Qingjun returned shortly after.
The night deepened. Inside, Shen Hanyang and Bai Yue slept entwined, while Shen Hao lay at the innermost side of the bed.
A figure slipped in—Shen Qingjun tiptoed toward the bed. She first went to the headboard, standing on Shen Hanyang’s side, and waved a handkerchief soaked in medicine under his nose. The scent entered him, and his tightly furrowed brow relaxed as he gradually fell into a deep sleep.
Using the same method, she put Bai Yue and Shen Hao into deep sleep one by one.
Once she was sure everyone was asleep, Shen Qingjun stopped tiptoeing and began rifling through the room.
She tossed the gold bars Shen Hanyang had taken into her space and threw everything they had prepared into the gray mist. Unlike the gold bars, these items completely disappeared once thrown in.
Among their packed luggage, she also found 15,000 yuan and a large stack of bills. Carrying so much money, anyone unaware would think they were living in luxury.
Shen Qingjun collected everything while muttering to herself. She then stored all other valuables in the room into the gray mist. Anything valuable would automatically be pulled into her space, no need for her to judge—it was another clever use of her “shrunken” space.
Having finished everything, she remembered her promise to Sun Lanzhi.
Seeing Sun Lanzhi absent outside, she slipped the household registration book into the door gap so that she could see it when she arrived. Shen Qingjun then went back to rest.
Outside, Sun Lanzhi crept along the wall and waited in a corner.
Left and right, she waited, but Shen Qingjun didn’t appear.
By dawn, she could wait no longer. Just as she was about to knock, she spotted the household registration book in the door gap.
Furious, Sun Lanzhi’s face went iron-colored, and she kicked the exterior wall hard. At that moment, she ran into a military wife fetching water from the neighboring house.
Their eyes met.
Sun Lanzhi froze, then lowered her head and ran off.
The next second, two screams echoed from the Shen household.
Shen Hanyang and Bai Yue, seeing the house ransacked as if robbed, went pale. They hurriedly opened the packages they had prepared to check if the money was still there.
But their hands came up empty.
The luggage? All that luggage?
“Mom, Dad, someone stole everything from my room!” Shen Qingjun cried, running in.
Shen Hanyang, originally worried about the 1,500 yuan, went black with anger. “Sun Lanzhi, just you wait!”
“The Revolutionary Committee will arrive soon. What do we do?” Bai Yue nervously grabbed Shen Hanyang’s hand.
“I need to go out for a bit. You wait here.” Shen Hanyang gestured to Bai Yue.
Understanding, Bai Yue nodded. “Come back quickly.”
Shen Hanyang couldn’t delay. He dodged the crowd and ran to the back hill. Soon, he arrived at the tree and dug tirelessly, only to freeze in shock.
The box? That huge box?
Thinking he had buried it wrong the previous night, he dug a meter-long tunnel to the side—but still couldn’t find the wooden box.
Shen Hanyang’s legs gave out; he collapsed to the ground.
When Bai Yue finished packing and came out, Shen Qingjun was eating buns delivered by Zou Zhanyang. He had things to handle today and couldn’t accompany her, but he had already arranged for the Revolutionary Committee not to give her trouble.
“Where did these buns come from?” Bai Yue asked, unable to hide her curiosity.
Shen Hao followed Bai Yue out, mouth watering at the buns. He reached for one, but Shen Qingjun swatted his hand with her chopsticks. “These are from my boyfriend. If you want one, ask your parents.”
Shen Hao’s face fell, his eyes red and pitiful.
Bai Yue paid no attention to Shen Hao, focused entirely on Shen Qingjun’s words. “Boyfriend? You have a boyfriend?”
Shen Qingjun smirked faintly. “Mom, what do you think?”
Bai Yue’s expression darkened. “No matter what your plans are, you’re coming with us during relocation. We’re mother and daughter; responsibilities shared, we must stay together!”
Shen Qingjun shrugged, saying nothing.
Bai Yue gave her a long, piercing look. This relocation, she was determined to straighten Shen Qingjun’s stubborn character.
A sudden, rapid knock came at the door. Bai Yue thought it was Shen Hanyang and immediately rose to answer—but the door was kicked open. A group of men in Zhongshan suits with red armbands stormed in.
The leader had a pen in his shirt pocket and a badge on his chest. Wang Songde surveyed the room. “Where’s Shen Hanyang?”
Bai Yue, trembling and speechless, stammered, “H-he…”
“I-I’m here.” Shen Hanyang quickly stepped forward, breathing heavily, sweat rolling down his forehead, hair disheveled.
Wang Songde sneered, “Why do you look so dusty, as if you rolled in the dirt?”
Shen Hanyang tensed, of course he couldn’t admit he had come down the hill. He laughed awkwardly. “I tripped just now, got a little dirty.”
Wang Songde said no more and swept a sharp gaze over everyone. “Is the whole family here?”
“Yes, yes, we’re all here,” Shen Hanyang hurriedly replied.
Wang Songde nodded, raising his voice. “Comrades Shen Hanyang and Bai Yue, according to instructions from higher authorities and the Revolutionary Committee’s decision, the glorious moment has arrived: your family is to be relocated to the countryside to support national construction. Today is the day to fulfill your honorable mission.”
“All procedures have been completed. The organization will handle the cancellation and transfer of household registration and food entitlements. Now, you will come with us.”
He glanced at his watch. “You have ten minutes.”
Shen Hanyang understood this was their time to pack, and hurriedly ran back inside with Bai Yue.